Victim Identifies Cousin As Shooter

February 02, 1999|By TINA MCCLOUD Daily Press

MIDDLESEX — Thomas Billups is the man accused of attempted murder. But his cousin, Larry, is the one sentenced to the chair.

Larry Billups, 21, testified against his cousin in Middlesex County District Court Monday from his wheelchair, where he lives his life since being shot three times last October. He said Thomas, 19, whom he grew up with - "just like we were brothers'' - pulled the trigger.

After hearing testimony from Larry Billups and a Middlesex deputy, General District Judge R. Bruce Long certified two charges against Thomas Billups to the grand jury: attempted murder and using a gun in the crime.

Larry Billups said he and his cousin and several other people had been to King and Queen drinking on Oct. 20. There were some arguments in the car on the way back to Thomas Billups' mother's house near Church View, he said. Larry Billups said he slammed his cousin into a ditch and grabbed another man by the shirt on the way there.

The arguments continued at the house, Larry Billups testified. Outside, his cousin started firing a gun, and Larry Billups challenged him to shoot him if he was man enough. "And he shot me,'' Larry Billups said.

Two of the three bullets that struck him are still in his neck, said Larry Billups, whose legs are paralyzed as a result of the injury. He said he was hospitalized for about three months. One bullet went through him and struck Thomas Billups' mother in the shoulder. She was not seriously hurt.

"He was like, 'Larry, Larry, I didn't mean to,' '' Larry Billups testified. He testified his cousin begged him to say that it was a drive-by shooting. That is how the shooting was reported to the sheriff's office, Sheriff Weldon Dandridge said at the time.

Deputy Johnathan Wyatt testified he arrived at the home about 7:15 p.m. He saw Thomas Billups within 30 minutes or so, he said, but "everybody we had questioned just kept saying it was a drive-by, and they didn't know who it was.''

Thomas Billups was charged with the shooting on Oct. 26 after an investigation by the sheriff's office and State Police. He is being held without bond at the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Cen-ter until a circuit court grand jury meets on March 22. The grand jury will decide if there is enough evidence to schedule a trial.

Coincidentally, a trial date will be set the same day for Larry Billups, who is charged with distributing cocaine in July, a court official said.

The hearing Monday drew as many as two dozen people to the courtroom. Snickering and mumbling in the crowd prompted Capt. Donna Sears of the sheriff's office to call for quiet several times and evict one woman who didn't quit talking when asked.

Tina McCloud can be reached at 804-642-1746 or by e-mail at tmccloud@dailypress.com